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LONDON - A Web site that earned an enterprising British student $1 million suffered a crippling attack by ransom-seeking hackers. Alex Tew, 21, said Wednesday that his Million Dollar Homepage was targeted after he publicized how it had helped him raise money for his university studies. Tew had sold 10,000 small squares of advertising space on the Web site for $100 each, achieving his target in four months. His initiative spawned several copycat sites. But Tew said that on Jan. 7, he received a threat from an organization calling itself "The Dark Group," demanding that he pay them $50,000 within...

Washington renews blacklist of eight countries considered violators of religious freedoms including Saudi Arabia, Iran. The United States on Tuesday renewed its blacklist of eight countries considered violators of religious freedoms, turning back requests to add Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice extended the designation of US ally Saudi Arabia as a "country of particular concern" as well as that of China, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Vietnam, Eritrea and Sudan. "These are countries where governments have engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom over the past year," Rice told a news conference. "We are...

DIPLO WON'T TESTIFY IN SAUDI PROBE By NILES LATHEM WASHINGTON — The State Department abruptly pulled a top official from testifying at a Senate hearing on Saudi links to terrorism today amid a massive lobbying campaign by Saudi agents to discredit the proceedings, The Post has learned. A State Department spokeswoman confirmed that Alan Misenheimer, the department's director of Arabian Peninsula and Iran Affairs, had bowed out of testifying at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing exploring whether Saudi Arabia was a friend or a foe in the war on terrorism. Other officials said Misenheimer's appearance was scrapped due to concerns...

LAWRENCE B. WILKERSON served as chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell from 2002 to 2005. IN PRESIDENT BUSH'S first term, some of the most important decisions about U.S. national security — including vital decisions about postwar Iraq — were made by a secretive, little-known cabal. It was made up of a very small group of people led by Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. When I first discussed this group in a speech last week at the New American Foundation in Washington, my comments caused a significant stir because I had been chief...

Anyone know anything about Blogger/Blogspot being down? Are they experiencing a DOS attack, or just tech errors? A lot of Blogs are currently down.

QUESTION: What's your reaction to the protests in Iran around the British Embassy? This is a reaction to the IAEA vote, I presume, were there to be a U.S. embassy, they would be protesting there. MR. MCCORMACK: Right. Well, I'll leave it to those on the ground to describe the protests there and who might be organizing those protests. The position where Iran finds itself right now, I think, is one that is probably a surprise to them after the IAEA Board of Governors vote. And where they find themselves is more isolated from the international community than when they...

Memphis -- A university student from Egypt was ordered held without bond after prosecutors said they found a pilot's uniform, chart of Memphis International Airport and a DVD titled "How an Airline Captain Should Look and Act" in his apartment. The FBI is investigating whether Mahmoud Maawad, 29, had any connection to terrorists. He is awaiting trial on charges of wire fraud and fraudulent use of a Social Security number. Maawad, who is in the United States illegally, told the judge during a hearing Thursday that he is studying science and economics at the University of Memphis. "My school is...

The U.S. Consulate General in Dhahran has been temporarily closed to the public due to an ongoing security operation by the Saudi authorities in nearby Dammam, the consulate said on its Web site. The consulate said the closure was "in response to an ongoing standoff between Saudi security forces and an unknown number of terrorists in Dammam." It added that U.S. citizens are encouraged to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness. "U.S. citizens are further advised to exercise caution and maintain good situational awareness when visiting commercial establishments frequented by...

TEHERAN - Iran on Saturday denounced as an “ugly act” the US decision to deny visas to an Iranian parliamentary delegation to attend the annual UN General Assembly session in New York, claiming it showed the Americans were not competent to serve as host to the United Nations. Washington has given no reason for denying visas to the delegation that was expected to be headed by Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel. The US, however, has indicated that Iran’s new ultraconservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will receive a US visa to attend the session later this month. US authorities decided...

The report highlights the danger of our lax immigration system, not just in terms of who is allowed in, but also how terrorists, once in the country, used weaknesses in the system to remain here. The report makes clear that strict enforcement of immigration law – at American consulates overseas, at ports of entry, and within the United States – must be an integral part of our efforts to prevent future attacks on U.S. soil. Of the 94 foreign-born terrorists who operated in the United States, the study found that about two-thirds (59) committed immigration fraud prior to or in...

Belarusian police detained a U.S. diplomat for forty minutes while in a meeting with representatives of non-governmental organizations. The routine meeting took place in Gomel, Belarus on August 23, 2005. Police entered the meeting and refused to permit the diplomat to leave for forty minutes, without offering any clear explanation, except for an alleged need to check his identification. The U.S. State Department made their concerns about this incident known to Belarusian officials both in Minsk and in Washington. Belarusian officials indicated they will look into the matter and provide more information, but a full explanation has not yet been...

Ambassador Greg Schulte:The U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency says there is plenty of evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon. In an interview with VOA, Gregory Schulte said Iran is entitled to nuclear technology, but not for military purposes. Ambassador Schulte has been in Vienna only a few weeks but has already experienced a special IAEA board meeting and is preparing for the next U.N. report on Iran's nuclear program. IAEA experts now say investigations confirm Iran's story that traces of weapons grade uranium were imported on contaminated equipment from Pakistan and not domestically produced. So does...

With Windows 95's Debut, Microsoft Scales Heights of Hype By David Segal Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 24, 1995; Page A14 You can hide under a bridge, row a boat to the middle of the ocean or wedge yourself under the sofa, cover your ears and then hum loudly. But get near a newspaper, radio, television or computer retailer today and you will experience the multimillion-dollar hype surrounding the launch of Windows 95. Microsoft Corp. is spending about $300 million to trumpet the arrival of Windows 95, an upgraded operating system, the software that tells the machinery inside your...

An incredible number of attacks by Islamic jihadists have been planned over the last 35 years. Although many have been averted, far too many plots have succeeded: Since 1970, jihadists carried out attacks in over 60 cities, in at least 41 countries, on five continents and Pacific islands. Jihadists have assassinated heads of state, ambassadors and military personnel, and killed thousands of men, women, and children of many ages, ethnicities and religions (including Muslims). They have sometimes deliberately targeted children and babies.The 78 incidents listed below should not be taken as a complete list, merely a representative one. The listed...

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2005 – Airlift operations continue at a steady clip as the members of the 86th Aerospace Expeditionary Group work to rotate the first of two brigades of Rwandan troops into the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan, the group commander told the American Forces Press Service today. Air Force Col. Scott Schafer, commander of the 86th AEG at Kigali International Airport, Rwanda, said the operation is proceeding "just as planned and on schedule." Schafer made his assessment as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in Sudan today, said she found it "heartening" to see the U.S. airlift operation but...

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2005 – American dreams of a free and sovereign nation were at rock bottom at Valley Forge, Pa., in February 1778 when Baron Von Steuben, a battle-tested former Prussian Army officer who had served on the General Staff of Frederick the Great, arrived in camp to bring organization and professionalism to the Continental Army. Von Steuben, recruited by U.S. Minister to France Benjamin Franklin, taught the raw American militiamen how to fight as a disciplined body. The Prussian was later appointed as the first inspector general of the Army, noted Deane Williams, the DoD IG office's chief...

U.S. Policy Options for Iran: Sham Elections, Disinformation Campaign, Human Rights Abuses, and Regime Change Excerpt from Executive Summary While the Bush administration has been reluctant to adopt an unambiguous policy of regime change for Iran, the outcome of the Iranian electoral process, disinformation campaign, and violations of human rights require adoption of an explicit regime change policy for Iran.  An ambiguous American policy was somewhat effective prior to the June 2005 Iranian elections. That policy allowed Washington to support the European diplomatic initiative toward Iran without fear of being blamed for sabotaging negotiations by threatening the regime’s existence....

Press Briefing to the Traveling Press Secretary Condoleezza Rice En Route to Shannon, Ireland June 17, 2005 SECRETARY RICE: Welcome aboard. I just want to talk a little bit about the first stop on our trip, which is to go to the Palestinian territories and then also to meet with the members of the Israeli government. And the principal reason for this trip, you’ll remember that the President said that he wanted me to come out before the disengagement and so this is an opportunity to see how the process of coordination is going between the parties as they get...

June 8th, 2005: Senate Event, Partial Transcription: “The plight of Iranian women and children under Islamic rule”. Full transcription of Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky: Begin Transcription ### Good morning to all of you and thank you [Organizer] I’d like to thank our distinguished panelists for being here and I also know that we have distinguished senators coming by and welcome to all of you. The president in fact did make it clear in his State of the Union Address that the United States supports the democratic aspiration of the people of Iran. As part of our commitment to spread...

On obstacles to China-US relations, he acknowledged the Taiwan issue was the "biggest landmine."